Three Things Thursday - part II

It's Christmas! And as I wait for the dryer to stop running, I thought I would post a quick blog.

Three things.

1. We made a birthday cake for Jesus .... and it's still sitting on the kitchen counter, uncut, uneaten. Why? Because we went to a fellow "family-less" friend's for lunch...and had Baked Alaska birthday cake instead!

2. The kids had a wonderful Christmas. I heard, "Just what I always wanted!" three times, all from Hannah. :) Apparantly, a "Hello Kitty" toothbrush, a miniature doctor's coat (made by Grandma,) and a doctor's - excuse me - ANIMAL doctor's kit, all fit the bill. :) Isaac was thrilled with his matchbox cars and Thomas toothbrush (why, oh, why did I show him it played music.) And I got my GPS system! :) Chris got socks...well, he needed them, had asked for them, and I had given all my other good ideas to his mom. :) He'll get something else when I figure out what it is! :)

3. I was disappointed with our Christmas service at church. No hymns, a strange play about "Christmas Town," and a churchwide "snowball" fight. ("Mom, these aren't real snowballs! They're just balls!") Yep, three things I didn't like about it. We'll try the Lutheran Church next year!

Three Things Thursday

I've been a bad blogger...I've been gone too long! I need to catch up on some posts (I'm sneaky and I just change the date to make it look like I stay on top of things!). But a friend did this in her blog, so I thought I would copy it. :) And as usual, I'm only 2 days late. :)



1. I'm glad to be home. Yes, Texas is starting to feel like home. It was great to be in Iowa for 3 weeks but I could start to tell the difference in my kids. I'm not kidding when on the plane I said to Hannah, "Listen to me. You need to remember that in Texas you listen to Mommy and you obey her...the first time!" *rolling eyes* Yes, 3 weeks of spoiling from aunts, uncles, and grandparents is just a little too much.

2. I have a new beautiful nephew. Noah Daniel Van Gorp is an adorable little boy and I'm so glad that he's here, healthy, and happy. And I love seeing my sister and her husband being parents. Angie is so calm and collected, and Jason is so protective and cuddly. Such a blessing for their new little one.

3. I finally finished a book that I have been reading for more than 3 months. Possibly longer. :) Now, I've read probably 10-15 other books during this time...but that book just sat in my work bag and taunted me! So after a slow day at the clinic and some time this morning (my first Saturday in Texas that I didn't work since the beginning of August!), the book is done! Finished and in the box to go to Half Priced Books!

I'll see if I can keep this up every Thursday...probably not though right! :)

My baby is 2 tomorrow!!

I don't know why I'm having such a hard time believing this! I mean, he's really going to be TWO! I think I'm in a little bit of denial. I only just bought his presents today. :( Now, granted, it's been a busy last two weeks, but seriously...I'm a bad mommy. :)

This time two years ago, I was supposed to be leaving work...my last day of work in fact. But instead, I was stuck in the office cleaning up someone else's mistake and didn't get off until 5 pm. Two years ago I spent 2 hours at the airport waiting for my dad's flight. And then found out that Chris wouldn't be arriving until 3 am because of bad weather in Dallas...my parents ended up picking him up.

Two years ago tomorrow, I arrived at the hospital at 7 am...went to the wrong floor (LOL), and got checked in. Had a wonderful epidural (that actually took on the first time!) and headed off to surgery. I remember talking to the doctor through the whole procedure, chatting about how cautery on me smelled the same as cautery on a dog (what was I thinking?) and being incredibly nauseous from anesthesia.

And then my little man was born! They let me say hi to him, and then whisked him off to the NICU. I don't even think they told me anything was wrong until I got back to my room.

I think the worst part of that day was not really understanding what was wrong with him and not being able to see him. The nurses wouldn't let me go see him until I could sit up without vomiting...yeah, anesthesia does wonky things to me. I didn't get to see him until 10 pm that night when my mom and I just put our foot down and told the nurse that I hadn't just vomited when she helped me up and into the wheelchair...by that time, I was already halfway down the hallway too!

Oh, little man. How much you worried your mommy and daddy during the first few days. It's hard to believe you were so small....and now so big and strong. Can we just start working on the talking now? :)

Boo at the Zoo

We had so much fun last night at Boo at the Zoo. It was much different from Night Eyes at Blank Park Zoo last year with my In-Laws but it was loads of fun.

We met up with Jill, Maggie and Drew (Andew had to work) and loaded up the strollers. Being the warm blooded Texans that they are, she was quite prepared for the "record low" we were supposed to get. *gasp* :)

Kitty and Princess held hands and chatted through the whole park while Brown Bear and Peter Pan happily dug through their pails and rode in style.

As the evening wore down and it got colder though Hannah ran up to hold her daddy's hand though. As she told Maggie, "Hey! Your hand is too cold! I'm going to hold my daddy's!" Smart girl! :) That's who's hand I wished I were holding! :)

Mom!! You're doing it wrong!!!

This is what I heard yelled at me from the bathroom this morning. "And I don't like it this way!" The thoughts ran through my mind, "Did I fold the towels the "wrong way?" Did I leave Isaac's toilet seat on? What did I do "wrong?"

- "Come in here! Let me show you!"

- What's the matter, Hannah?

- "Look! I don't like it this way! Put it on the front, not on the back! That way people can see it!"

So what had I done wrong? Apparently, Maribeth had hung the toilet paper with the leading edge under not over .

Well, excuse me, Miss Future Martha Stewart! :)

Verbal Apraxia

That's our "diagnosis" for now. We met with the speech and language pathologist and the occupational therapist/services coordinator today through Early Childhood Intervention. It was quite enlightening and yet a little heartbreaking at the same time. :(

For Isaac's developmental stages there is quite a broad range. Just for reference he's 22 months. For his physical stages (fine/gross motor) he's at 28 months; adaptive/cognitive - 27 months; social/personal - 35 months.....but his expressive speech is at 9 months. :( He comprehends everything (24 months) but just can't verbalize it.

So we'll be starting bi-monthly speech therapy with at home exercises to do in between. It makes me sad on the one hand because every mom wants to believe her children are the smartest, fastest, best, most perfect children....and then something like this just hits you between the eyes. I know in the grand scheme of things, it's not that big of a deal...but it's still sad to me. They expect that we'll see huge improvements by 6 months and that within a year he may not qualify for services at all any more....but it's that uncertainty that weighs heavy on my mind.

So....what's been going on....

Well, let's see.

Chris - loving his job and doing very well at it. He's got a quickie trip (as in he found out about it yesterday, leaves tomorrow, will be back Saturday) to DesMoines tomorrow. We had thought about sending Hannah with him to spend some time with the IL's but at $600 a ticket, we'll just let Heritage pay for Chris's. :)

Hannah - currently crashed on the couch after a trip to the zoo with friend Veronica. They had so much fun, and were quite a bit quieter on the trip home than they were on the trip out! She's loving preschool, gymnastics and soccer. Quite the little busy bee but such a good helper at home.

Isaac - continuing to astound me with his desire to use the potty...and yet, not wanting to use his mouth for much more than eating. He was supposed to have a speech assessment on Tuesday but the therapist bailed, so we're rescheduled for next Tuesday...stay tuned.

Me - between teaching, momming, vetting, and wife-ing...well, the sewing machine is getting a little dusty. But I've been introduced to the wonderful world that is Yoga and Bunco. Once a week yoga is wonderful for relaxation and once a month Bunco is great for the soul too. ;) I'm adding in running and trying to train for a Turkey Trot....just because I had nothing else to do. ;)